ABOUT

Cello Springs Festival returns for the third year in January 2019: a celebration of the cello embedded in the vibrant community of Yellow Springs, Ohio. We will offer public concerts and community events in and around Yellow Springs, exploring cello repertoire from many eras and a wide range of styles.

Co-Founded in 2017 by Chiara Enderle, Miriam Liske-Doorandish and Lisa Liske-Doorandish, Cello Springs Festival was conceived as an exploration of music and personal connection through the lens of the cello.

Taking place annually in January, our music festival has grown to involve both visiting musicians and local artists. The participating cellists are given the forum of time with like-minded musicians over ten days of practicing, rehearsals, workshops, mixed-media collaborations, and a series of concerts spanning solo and ensemble repertoire.

Six cellists comprise the core group, with up to two dozen musicians joining in as satellite players for larger ensemble concerts. Participants are inter-generational, ranging from exceptional students just beginning their careers to seasoned professionals. We also offer an apprenticeship to a dedicated young musician in the 10-18 age range. Growing from the cellist-to-cellist connection, Cello Springs aims to connect audiences with cello repertoire, bring music to the retirement community, and support student musicians.

The festival is anchored around four formal concerts in Yellow Springs. We bring unexpected programming to diverse venues, with an emphasis on financial accessibility. We also offer varied short, informal performances around the Village; in an art gallery, in a coffee shop, in a bar, and at the Glen Helen Nature Preserve, a fixture of the Yellow Springs environmental education community.

Festival concerts are donation-suggested, not-for-profit events. We aim to defray the expense of printing programs, renting spaces, etc. through donations and other forms of fundraising, but above all we are committed to keeping these concerts free and open to the public.

Much of the time, musicians are focused on output, attempting to produce the best possible performance or recording or educational program. Cello Springs offers public performances, but it also creates the unusual opportunity for musicians to retreat, recharge and offer mutual enrichment; practice time, renewal of inspiration, exploration of arts advocacy, nurturance of musical energy, interpretation across musical styles, intergenerational interaction, mentorship, and learning.

This opportunity to connect with like-minded musicians who thrive on collaboration - and the artistic challenge of working with those in other artistic mediums - brings together a collection of thoughtful and energetic individuals. We hope the space to share ideas amongst lovers of this instrument will foster an environment of artistic energy that will feed expanding communities in years to come.

Yellow Springs, OH is a small town in Southern Ohio with a population around 3,500 and a strong, historically-based association with intentional community building. Home to Antioch College, there is a large arts culture in Yellow Springs which extends beyond the formalized settings of galleries and studios and has been incorporated as a way of life by many of the residents. Community members have invested not only in live music performance but also the relationships between art and mental health, art and education, and art as activism.

We are grateful for our roots in the village, and delighted to be entering the third year of the festival after hoping to undertake a musical project here for many years. We see Cello Springs Festival as both an outreach event and incubator for creative ideas. In turn, we see the town of Yellow Springs in conversation with the festival, generously hosting our work and the majority of our concerts but also serving as a hub for further outreach and performance opportunities.

Cello Springs seeks to connect with the established structures of Yellow Springs, inviting vendors, individual arts supporters, venues, and community groups with specific missions to partner with us. We are asking what we can bring to the community to build a sustainable foundation for future years.

Educational workshops will be a small but important part of our community presence and we are working to set up events at local public schools. These educational events will focus on the importance of live music as shared experiences within communities and between individuals.

Through our collaborations with the Glen Helen Institute, we hope to explore the link between music and awareness practice, working with environmentally-minded individuals to program live music as a tool for reflection, social action, and nature appreciation. Social witness is at the foundation of our festival and is a critical part of the vision for our role in the community; it is our motivation for engagement with the creative process.

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